Seven people, among them a sitting congressman and a former lawmaker, will face qualified human trafficking complaints before the Department of Justice once the National Bureau of Investigation submits its findings, the agency’s chief said Friday.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag told reporters the complaints would be lodged with the DOJ the same day, closing out the bureau’s inquiry into what has been described as a “honey trap” operation aimed at Executive Secretary Ralph Recto. “Qualified human trafficking yung ifa-file natin,” Matibag said. The offense carries no option for bail.
Those named cover Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste, former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto “Jing” Paras, talent manager Alias Ken, and four members of the Rondain and Mendiola Law Firm. The Inquirer identified the lawyers as Atty. Ruy Rondain, Atty. Orlando Mendiola, and two junior associates of the firm. Investigators allege the lawyers were assigned to draft fabricated statements against Recto.
The case grew out of the July 28 arrest of Alias Ken, who was picked up on a separate human trafficking count. It was Ken who alerted authorities to the supposed scheme, telling investigators he had sat down with Paras and the lawyers at a restaurant in July to map out a “character assassination” effort. Under that plan, according to Ken, four women signed to his talent stable would put out invented accounts accusing Recto of coercing them into drug use and sex.
Ken has said the lawyers presented themselves as Leviste’s representatives and were responsible for producing the script targeting the Cabinet official, and that Leviste bankrolled the operation. The Daily Tribune reported that the NBI told the public its account rested on the arrested manager’s claims, which the bureau said had not been independently confirmed.
Every person tagged in the matter has rejected the accusations. Mendiola, appearing before the NBI in August, disputed that any covert plan existed, saying the firm’s contact with the women amounted to an unfinished interview rather than a plot. “There’s no such thing; there’s no plan like that,” he said, adding that a second meeting fell through when expected participants did not turn up.
Leviste, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, left the country before the bureau could serve him with a subpoena, according to Politiko. His counsel, Atty. Gabrielle Rondain-Kapunan, invoked his right to remain silent and filed an affidavit on his behalf when she appeared at the NBI-NCR office in his place on August 11, Philippine News Agency reported.
